This application claims priority of Chinese Application No. 01233473.1 filed Aug. 16, 2001.
Not Applicable
Not applicable
The invention relates to a spice crusher, particularly to a spice crusher that is able to crush spices, such as peppercorns. Such a spice crusher is often called a peppercorn crusher and more commonly known as a pepper mill.
Conventional spice/peppercorn crushers are long cylinders that consist of a cylindrical body and a top cover. These spice/peppercorn crushers require a user to hold the cylindrical body with one hand and apply pressure whilst turning the cover 360xc2x0 with another hand in order to crush spices or peppercorns contained within the cylindrical body by a crushing plate positioned under the top cover. Such devices require the use of both hands at the same time and significant strength is needed to press and twist the top cover. As a result conventional spice/peppercorn crushers are difficult to use, require much effort and are unsuitable for injured or disabled people. The fineness of the crushed spices/peppercorns is determined by the pressure that is exerted on the top cover by the user""s hand. Such a great pressure is required to crush the spices/peppercorns very finely it is difficult to obtain. Also, constant pressure is difficult to maintain and so the fineness of crushed spices/peppercorn is often uneven in the same operation.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a spice crusher, comprising a main body, a handle pivotally mounted on the main body, a crushing plate, a gear driving mechanism and a fineness control mechanism, wherein the crushing plate, gear driving mechanism and fineness control mechanism are arranged within the main body such that the gear driving mechanism and the fineness control mechanism co-operate with the crushing plate.
Preferably, the gear driving mechanism comprises a driving gear, a pinion and a large gear, whereby the driving gear is connected to the handle, the pinion and large gear are mounted coaxially and mutually engaged and the large gear works in co-operation with the crushing plate.
Even more preferably, the driving gear is sector-shaped and connected to a cylindrical shaft of the handle.
Preferably, a hollow cylinder is provided within a centre of an upper part of the main body, the pinion and large gear are successively mounted on a cylindrical shaft inserted within a hollow portion of the cylinder and the pinion presses against a spring that forms a sleeve around a periphery of the cylinder.
Additionally, one end face of the pinion may be provided with a plurality of protruding teeth and one end face of the large gear is provided with protruding teeth. The pinion and large gear are arranged so that the protruding teeth of the pinion engage with the protruding teeth of the large gear such that the pinion and large gear rotate together in one direction only.
Likewise, a back of the crushing plate may be provided with a protrusion, the fineness control mechanism comprises a control plate and a knob, one end of the control plate includes an elliptically-shaped hole and an other end includes a protruding portion that engages with the protrusion on the back of the crushing plate, the knob includes a head, a cam-like hard plastic plate, a cylindrical body that is inserted into the elliptically-shaped hole of the control plate and a shaft offset to the cylindrical body that is mounted in a predetermined position on the main body.
Preferably, the handle is provided with a spring bow and a curved piece to return the handle to its initial position after being moved towards the main body.
Additionally, a hard plastic plate with a semi-circular wall may be provided within the main body and arranged so that the spring bow presses against the semi-circular wall.
Even more preferably, a bottom of the hard plastic plate is provided with a plurality of protruding portions that are inserted into corresponding accommodating holes in the main body.
Preferably, a lid is disposed on the top of the main body, the lid has a tail end with a protruding section and swings open when pressure is applied to the protruding section.
In a second aspect of the invention there is provided a peppercorn crusher comprising a main body, a handle pivotally mounted on the main body, a hard plastic plate with a semi-circular wall, a crushing plate, a gear driving mechanism and a fineness control mechanism whereby a lid is disposed on the top of the main body, the handle includes a spring bow and a curved piece, the hard plastic plate is arranged within the main body such that the spring bow presses on the semi-circular wall and the crushing plate, the gear driving mechanism and the fineness control mechanism are arranged within the main body so that the gear driving mechanism co-operates with the crushing plate and the fineness control mechanism links with the crushing plate.
The crushing process of the spice crusher is driven by a gear-driving mechanism. The spice crusher can be operated with only one hand and requires very little strength. A fineness control mechanism is provided so as easily to control the fineness of the crushed spices/peppercorns. The spice crusher of the present invention saves time and labour.